Saved!, part 4
You may want to start with:
The last two posts we explored the idea of when salvation occured. The bigger question for me: What happens right now?
Paul said things like
work out your salvation with fear and trembling- Philippians 2:12
and
today, is the day of salvation- 2 Cor 6:2
What does it mean for us to be saved today?
It all depends on what you think happens when people experience justification. A common way of thinking is to think of justification as being saved from going to hell. Certainly, this is a reality. But, it’s not close to the full reality.
An intersting idea is to look in the New Testament at some of the words we use for the word saved. One word used for saved is an interesting Greek word sozo. Look at how this word is used:
For by grace you have been saved (sozo) through faith- Ephesians 2:8
Nothing shocking there, but look at this one:
And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed (sozo). – Mark 6:56
Save and heal.
Or you could say it like this: salvation is things being made right, or being made whole (or healed, saved). Salvation is God bringing order, which is why salvation has to start with the creation of the universe. God brought order. God has always brought order God still brings order, even today.
So often we think of salvation in such narrow terms and we miss a HUGE part of the mystery. Yes, it is forgiveness of sins, but it is so much more than that. Salvation is God is making the world right, including the way God is making me and you right. This means that salvation is not done when we pray at the altar. This means that today as we trust Christ we are being saved. You are being saved towards God and away from sin. Today, as you trust Christ you are being formed into being more in line with God’s will.
So if we limit salvation to being saved from hell, our salvation-thinking stops when that is accomplished. Salvation becomes static. But if we think about salvation as the way God is making the world right, then our salvation is expanded into a never-ending process of becoming whole.
We’ll do one more post to put it all together.
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